Damage Mechanism

Description

Brittle fracture

sudden rapid fracture under stress with little or no evidence of

ductility or plastic deformation

Mechanical Fatigue

a mech form of degradation- when exposed to cyclical stress for

extended period; Arises from either mechanical loading or thermal
cycling & are well below the Y.S of material

Atmospheric corrosion

A form of corrosion that occurs from moisture assiciated with

atmospheric conditions.

CUI

corrosion of piping, PV and structural resulting from water trapped

under insulation or fire proofing

MIC

A form of corrosion caused by bacteria, algae and fungi. It is

assiciated with the presence of tubercles or slimy organic
substance

Soil Corrosion

Deterioration of metals exposed to soils

Caustic corrosion

Localized corrosion due to the concentration of caustic or alkaline

salts that usually occurs undr evaporative or high heat transfer
conditions. General corrosion depending on alkali/caustic solution
strength. Also referred to as caustic gouging or ductile gouging. A
related mechanism known as Departure from Nucleate
boiling(DNB)

Chloride SCC

Surface initiated cracks by environmental cracking of 300 series SS

& nickel base alloys under the combined action of Tensile stess,
Temp & an aqueous Cl environment. Presence of dissolved O2
increased chance of cracking.

Caustic SCC

Sour water corrosion(acidic)

Sulphuric acid corrosion

Caustic embrittlement is a form of SCC characterized by surface

initiated cracks that occurs in piping & eqpt exposed to caustic,
primarily adj to Non-PWHT welds

Affected Materials

Resistant

CS,LAS particularly older steels. 400 Series

SS also

All engineering alloys

Temp range

CS,LAS & copper alloyed Aluminium

CS,LAS, 300 SS & duplex

Severe at metal temp:

100 to 121C ; Eqpt in
intermittent service or
operate b/w -12 to 175 for
CS; 60 to 205 for ASS &
DUP

All engineering alloys

-17 to 113 C

CS, Cast iron, Ductile iron

CS,LAS & 300 SS

300 SS

> 66 C-CS & 300 SS have

serious corrosion ih high
str caustic solutions

DSS-More resistant,
Nickel base alloyshighly resistant, but
not immune. Welds in
300 SS contain ferrite

>60 C of metal
temperatur, cracking
occurs

CS,LAS & 300 SS

Ni base alloys- More

resistant

Critical factors

Affected units

For a material containing a flaw, BF can occur-3

factors:1)material fracture toughness(by charpy);2)size,
shape & stress concentration of a flaw;3)res & app stress;
embrittling phases.

Eqpt manufactured to ASME PV SEC 8 div 1 prior to

Dec 1987 addenda were made with limited restrictions
on notch toughness for vessels operating at cold
temp; During starup,shutdown or hydrotesting. Thick
wall eqpt. Autorefrigeration units, alkylation, olefin,
polymer plants, storage bullets/sphere

*include physical location,moisture, design that trap

moisture. Marine environ(20 mpy), industrial envirn(5-10),
inland(1-3), dry rural(<1); contaminates from cooling tower
drift, furnace stack and bird turds.

piping & eqpt with opt tem sufficiently low to allow

moisture to be present; poor paint or coating system,
eqpt if cycled b/w ambient & higher or lower op temp;
Eqpt shutdown or idled unless properly mothballed;
piers & docks

Design of insulation systems, insulation type, temp &

environ are the factors; Insulating materials that hold water
are problem. Eqpt that operates below the water dew point
tends to condense water; More CUI-High annual rain or
warmer, marine locations; low CUI-cooler, drier, midcontinent locations

Usually found in aqueous environments. Can survive

Heat Ex, storage tanks,piping in contact with soils, Fire
including lack of O2, light or dark, high salinity, PH range of water systems, cooling water system
0 to 12, T from -17 to 113 C. Systems may become
'inoculated' by the introduction of organisms that multiply n
spread. Nurients inorganic sub(sulphur,ammonia, H2S);
organic(HC,organic acid). All org require a source of C, N &
phosphorus for growth.

Factors including op temp, moisture, O2, soil resistivity, soil U/G piping & eqpt , ground supported metal structure
type; Soil corrosivity- a number of characteristics must be
combbined to estimate the corrosion in soil as per ASTM
STP 741 as well as API RP 580 & 581; soil to air interface
areas r often much more susceptible to corrosion because
of moisture & O2 availability

Presencr of caustic(NaOH or KOH);

sources of caustic:added to process str for neutralization,
added to BFW, for removal of Cl or S compounds, A
concentration mechanism must exisst to build up caustic
strength, Caustic may become concentrated by departure
from DNB,evaporation & deposition.

Boilers & steam generating eqpt including H.E;added

to crude unit charge; localized corrosion in preheat
exchanger, furnace tubes & transfer lines.

Cl content, T, S, O2 are factors. At lower PH uniform

Water cooled condensers, crude tower overhead
corrosion. SCC tendeny decreases toward the alkaline PH
condenser, drains in hydroprocessing units, bellow &
region. HT conditions increase cracking because they allow instrument tubing, boiler drain lines
Cl to concentrate.

susceptibility to caustic embrittlement in Caustic soda &

caustic potash is a function of caustic str, metal temp &
stress, Cracking happens in hours or days with temperature
& caustic concentration. Stresses approaching YS are
required for SCC, so PHWH helps in relieving.. Steam
tracing, steam out of non PWHT,

In piping & eqpt handling H2S & mercaptan units,

neturalization in H2SO4, HF alkylation units, Crude
tower(chloride control), heat traced piping or
equipment.

Appearance

Prevention

Cracks will be straight, non branching &

devoid of plastic deformation.(fine shear
lips along edge of the fracture or localized
necking around the crack; cleavage

* best prevented by using materials desighned for low temp

operation. Material with controlled chemical comp, HT &
impact. Refer to UCS 66 in Sec 8; controlling the operating
conditions; performing PWHT; perform 'warm' pre stree
hydro followed by lower temp hydro to extend MSOT-Min
saf operating temp

General or localized depending upon

whether or not the moisture is trapped;
localized coating failures will tend to
promote corrosion; if no coating then
general

surface preparation & proper coating

CS & LAS-localized pitting or loss in thk,

oftern appears as loose flaky scales, can
appear to be carbonuncle type
pitting(usually under a failed coating; 300
SS - Stress corr crack, CL SCC (older
calcium silicate-contain Cl)

Appropriate paint & maintaining insulation/sealing/vapor

barriers to prevent moisture ingress; flame sprayed Al
coating on CS-Coating corrodes by galvanic action; Thin Al
foil wrapped on SS; Closed cell foam glass materials will
hold less water than mineral wool.

Usually observed as localized pitting under

deposits or tubercles that shield the
organisms; Damage is often characterised
by cup shaped pits within pits in CS or
subsurface cavities in SS

Microbes require water to thrive. Should be treated with

biocides-Cl,Br,O3,UV. Continued treatment is necessary.
Maintain flow velocity above min level. Minimize low flow or
stagnant zones. Empty hydro test water as soon. Blow dry
& prevent moisture intrusion. Wrapping & CP undergroun
structure is effective

External thinning with localized losses due Use of special backfill, coatings & CP. The effective
to pitting. Severity depends on local soil
protection is a combination of a CR coating & CP
conditions & changes in immediate
environment along the eqpt metal surface.
Poor conditon of coating is a tell tale sign
of corr damage

Appear as grooves in a boiler tube or

locally thinned areas under insulating
deposits. Localized gouging where
corrosive concentrate. Vertical tube-Circum
groove, Horizontal tube-Long groov

Steam generating eqpt: proper design, reducing amt of free

caustic, adequate water flooding & flow,by proper burner
management to minimize hot spots on heater tubes.
Process eqpt:Proper mixing & dilution of caustic in order to
avoid concentration of caustic on hot metal surface.

The material usually shows no sigh of

corrosion. Surface breaking cracks. Have
many branches(craze cracked
appearance), metallography shows
branched transgranular cracks.

low Cl content, coatings, high temp SR of 300 SS may

reduce residual stess-consider Sensitization, polythionic
SCC, distortion.

Propagated II to weld in B.M but also occur

in weld or HAZ. Spider web on steel.
Confirmed thro metallographic exam as
intergranular. Very fine oxide filled cracks
in as welded CS fabrications. 300 SSTransgranular & difficult to distingusish
from Cl SCC

PWHT. 621C for CS. Stem out of Non PWHT CS piping

should be avoided. Eqpt should be water washed before
steam out. Only LP steam should be used if steam out
required. Proper design & operation of injection system to
ensure caustic is properly dispersed before entering High
temp crude preheat system

Inspection
*Inspection not normally used to
mitiage brittle fracture; Vessels should
be inspected for pre-existing
flaws/defects

To detect fatigue cracks at areas of

Stress con using PT,MT, SWUT. VT of
small dia piping. Vibration monitoring
of rot eqpt.
VT & UT

multiple inspection like UT for thk, Real

time(small bore), Neutron backscatter
& IR thermo(wet insulation), deep
penetrating ET, Guided wave UT

Effective of treatments is monitored by

measuring biocide residual, microbe
counts & visual appearance; special
probes for evidence of fouling; an
increase in the loss of duty of Heat Ex;
foul smelling water

Measuring the structure to soil

potential usind dedicated ref elctrode
near the structure(IR drop error). CP as
per NACE RP 0169; Piping-Inline
inspection devices, guided UT tools,
indirectly by pressure testing or visual

Injection points should be inspected as

per API 570;UT & RT can be used.
Process eqpt:UT thk gauging to detect
& monitor general corrosion.
Steam gen eqpt:Visual inspection
thro boroscope

PT or phase analysis EC. Extrmely fine

cracks r difficult to find in PT; UT, Eddy
current used on condenser tubes as
well as piping & PV

Crcks visuall seen. Best by WFMT, EC,

RT or ACFM. Surface prepartion by grit
blast, HP waater blast. Crack depthSWUT, Crack growth-AET; PT not
effective in tight filled cracksg; RT not
effective in fine cracks